Columbia U. Gets $200-Million Gift for Neuroscience Center

Property and media mogul Mortimer Zuckerman has pledged $200-million to Columbia University to endow a new center for the study of brain illnesses, Bloomberg reports.

The Mind Brain Behavior Institute, to be located at the university's new campus in the Manhattanville neighborhood of New York City, will employ 1,000 scientists and other staff to study neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and explore the connections between brain biology and behavior.

"At its root, this is an investment in accomplished scholars whose collective mission is both greater understanding of the human condition and the discovery of new cures for human suffering," said Mr. Zuckerman, the founder and chairman of Boston Properties Inc. and the publisher of U.S. News & World Report and the New York Daily News.